June 12: Wetin don change afta 27 years of Nigeria democracy

June 12 dey celebrated as Democracy Day for Nigeria to honour di historic presidential election wey hold on dat date for 1993.

Nigeria bin dey celebrate dia democracy day on May 29, di date wen di military hand over power to a democratically elected president for 1999. Di last of such handover bin happen on October 21st, 1979.

Na on June 12, 1993, Nigeria organise election to choose president wey go take over from di military Head of State Ibrahim Babangida, wey be Major General for di Nigeria army dat time

Public analyst and journalist Olalekan Ige say June 12 na di first time for Nigeria wey di citizens vote for a candidate, Moshood Abiola alias MKO Abiola, regardless of tribe, ethnicity, religion or anytin.

"Na di first time a southerner win election convincingly for evri part of Nigeria, for evri geopolitical zone for Nigeria," Ige tok.

E add say dat election "become di freest and fairest of election wia di candidate of di opposing party lose election for im own state and evriwia dey peaceful, nobody protest, nobody argue say di election bin dey rigged.

"Evribodi come out vote freely without being molested or harassed or cajoled or induced wit financial reward. Na di first time e happun for Nigeria history."

Why June 12 dey significant?

Di day dey significant for several reasons:

1. Di Election: On June 12, 1993, Nigerians massively come out to vote for Chief Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola for election wey many describe as one wey go beyond ethinc and religious divisions.

2. Di Annulment: Unfortunately, di military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida bin annul di election results bifor election officers fit declare an official winner. Dis spark widespread national outrage and protests.

3. Di Struggle for Freedom: Dat annulment come trigger years of intense struggle by civil society, activists, and citizens to demand a return to civilian rule, wey ultimately happun on 29 May 1999.

4. Di Official Recognition: For years, Nigeria bin dey mark Democracy Day on May 29 to commemorate di military handover to a democratic government for 1999. However, for 2018, di federal govment under di Buhari administration officially change di date to June 12 to properly honour di sacrifices of MKO Abiola.

Ige say di spirit of June 12 never die despite di annulment of di election but remain alive and eventually lead to di return of democratic rule for Nigeria in 1999 and since den, di kontri don enjoy uninterrupted democratic rule till date as di kontri don see successful transition of one democratically elected govment to anoda.

June 12 don influence proccess of election for Nigeria?

Olalekan Ige say despite say June 12 dey significant to democracy in Nigeria, e never really influence di way and manner dem dey conduct elections for di kontri.

Although e note say di Nigeria don make determined efforts to make elections and di electioneering process better wit tins like di review of di Electoral Act wey dem also just recently amend, di introduction of di BVAS and Inec Election Result Viewing Portal (IReV) wey be two technological innovations wey aim to improve transparency of election results and boost public trust in electoral outcomes.

Dis e say cure di idea of inflating election figures.

"Bifor we introduce Bvas, you see a lot of states returning two million or 2.5million votes but by di time we begin use Bvas, states wey use to return two million votes begin struggle to return 400,000 votes."

As di kontri dey celebrate anoda democracy day, Ige say e dey important for Nigerians to pay tribute to di man wey symbolise di June 12, MKO Abiola, and for dem to take a firm decision to uphold true democratic principles as dem approach di coming general elections for 2027.

As di 2027 election season dey come, Olalekan Ige say di June 12 legacy go make sense if evri Nigerian wey don register to vote actually come out and cast dia vote, take very seriously and participate for all di elections wey go hold and demand accountability from both di election officials and di govment.

"Nigerians dey so fixated on di Presidential elections to di exclusion of oda equally important elections - like di House of Assembly, house of reps, senate and of course di govnorship elections.

"If you check di 2023 Presidential election, barely 30 percent of registered voters come out to vote and as at den we get over 80 million registered voters.

How June 12 become national holiday for Nigeria

President Muhammadu Buhari declare June 12 as Democracy Day and national holiday on 6 June, 2018, as e tok say di date get symbolism pass May 29.

"Di fact say di military goment of dat time no uphold di outcome of dat election (of June 12, 1993), no fit distract from di democratic credentials of dat process," Buhari tok.

E also declare say di Nigeria goment go give Abiola di honour of 'Grand Commander of di Federal Republic (GCFR), wey be di highest national honour for di kontri, wey na only former Presidents dem dey give am.

Dis na symbolic gesture to officially agree say Abiola bin win the June 12, 1993 election true-true, even though im no go dey listed as a former president of Nigeria.

However, bifor dis declaration, some states for di southwest region of Nigeria wia Abiola come from, bin don dey mark June 12 as public holiday in honour of Abiola.

Dis states include Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo. Abiola come from Abeokuta for Ogun State.